Wadia Group shares nosedive 17% after Ness Wadia gets 2-year prison term in Japan

Following reports about Ness Wadia prison term for two years for possession of drugs in Japan, the shares of Wadia Group companies plunged up to 17 percent. The shares of Bombay Dyeing suffered strong losses, falling up to 17.4 per cent to Rs 103 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), while National Peroxide slipped 5.3 percent to Rs 2,660. Bombay Burmah fell 6 per cent to Rs 1,193.

Bombay Dyeing traded at Rs 111.55, down 10.62 percent, while Bombay Burmah had slipped over 2 percent at Rs 1245 at 11:33 am. National Peroxide also slipped over 4 percent to Rs 2,687.70. In contrast, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 38,912, down 155 points, or 0.40 percent.

Business tycoon and co-owner of Kings XI Punjab IPL team, Ness Wadia, has been sentenced to a two-year jail term in Japan for drugs possession while on holiday. According to a report in the Financial Times, Ness Wadia possessed 25 grams of cannabis resin and was arrested in early March at New Chitose Airport in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Ness Wadia is the son and heir of Nusli Wadia's 283-year-old business empire, the Wadia Group.

According to a brief report carried by a local Hokkaido station of state broadcaster NHK, customs officials at New Chitose were alerted to Wadia by sniffer dogs and a search revealed that he had about 25g of what appeared to be cannabis resin in his trouser pocket.

The Wadia empire has many units, which include Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Burman Trading, biscuit giant Britannia Industries to budget airline GoAir and a share in IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab with the total market valuation of its listed entities standing at $13.1 billion.

A court official in Sapporo said that Wadia admitted to possession, arguing that the drug was for his personal use.

Japan's narcotics laws are strict and are currently being applied especially tightly.

Wadia spent a period in detention before his indictment on March 20 and an undisclosed period of detention before a court hearing.

The Sapporo District Court handed him a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for five years.